There are two primary classifications of wind chimes; in the first classification, various articles are suspended from a common mount in a closely spaced group, and in the second classification, various articles are suspended in close proximity to a clapper means. The chimes of the first type produce musical notes when the individual chime members strike one another, and the chimes of the second type produce musical tones when the clapper strikes the chime members.
Typically, the chimes of the first type include multiple chime members arrayed in a linear configuration. Thus, each chime member strikes its continuous chime members when caused to swing relative to the mount by the wind. However, the chime members may be arrayed in alternate groupings as well, i.e., they may be grouped in a bundle so that each chime member is surrounded by additional chime members against which it may impinge when displaced by moving air particles.
The most common configuration for the second type of chimes includes plural chime members disposed in circumferential relation to a centrally disposed clapper. Typically, the clapper is suspended from the same mount as the individual chime members, and includes a means for catching air; in most designs, the means for catching air is a flat article that is suspended from the main clapper body, i.e., the part of the clapper that strikes the chime members. The chime members do not normally strike each other.
Both of these well-known types of chimes have drawbacks. Perhaps the most significant drawback of both types is that they may produce no musical tones at all in low winds. In the no-clapper designs where the chime members are disposed in linear array, if the wind approaches from a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis of the chime, all of the chime members may sway in that plane and may fail to impinge against one another. Moreover, in the no-clapper designs where the chime members are grouped in a bundle, the outermost chimes may sway and strike their contiguous chime members when the wind is blowing sufficiently hard, but the innermost chime members may remain silent because they are shielded from the wind. The only known no-clapper designs that are effective at low wind speeds include large wind-catching surfaces, such as seashells and the like. It has long been the conventional wisdom that cylindrical chime members, because they offer no large wind-catching surface, are not suitable for low windspeed applications.
In the chime designs having clappers, the wind-catching part thereof must be large enough to present a substantial wind-catching surface, and massive enough to cause displacement of the main clapper body because a very light wind-catching means offers little wind-resistance and thus does not transmit sufficient energy to the main clapper body. Thus, an effective wind-catching means has a substantial mass and does not swing in very low speed winds.
In most inhabited parts of the world, low speed winds are much more common then high speed winds. Significantly, very light breezes are the most frequent forms of wind, but all of the known wind chimes are incapable of adequately performing their intended function in such winds.
What is needed, then, is a wind chime design that produces pleasing musical tones even in the lightest of winds. The art, however, which is very old and well-developed, contains no teachings or suggestions as to how a more wind-sensitive chime could be produced.